I was looking at getting a parrot tree stand for a macaw the size of a green wing (hybrid). I was searching for pro and cons of these 2 types but I can't find much anything. Anyone have thoughts which would be best?
Pros:
-Nice looking (kind of furniture like and not an eye sore)
-Good way to get your bird out of the cage
-Safe / sturdy (not likely to get knocked over)
-Very durable, a good tree will last many, many years
Cons:
-When you hang a toy it generally hangs below the tree so the bird has to reach for it (yes you can hang toys above, but they they want to climb up)
-Very expensive for the size play area you get.
-if not properly populated with toys birds get bored.
-They take up a lot of room
I have a med / large size tree now and keep looking at the XL trees out there. I'm just not convinced it's worth $400ish dollars for one.
I would love to hear what others have to say about this as well.
I have a large one and I will say what a waste of a bunch of money. the birds all get bored except to make trips to the food dishes that are on it while they are out of their cages. all seem to want to be right with the wife or myself while out or on their cages. more than likely at some point in time when I get tired of looking at it out will come the tools and it will get cut up and made into toys for Sammy the U2 as the wood is some tough stuff and he can't seem to tear it up
Personally I just steal branches from my university campus. Every year they trim the branches and I kid you not, they are giant pieces of birch that I generally have to borrow a truck to bring back home. I then de-bark them with a knife and then soak them with bleach water and leave them out to dry in the sun for 3-5 days. You can buy untreated, cheap pine wood bases from any Home Depot or Home Hardware store. Plus you can put cheap stick-on floor tiles for the bottom to help prevent the wood from being damaged and leaving it easy to clean.
Alternatively, a great idea is to get in contact with individuals who like to do woodworking. Chances are they have access to different types of wood and can make amazing wood stands for a commission price far cheaper than buying the Java wood stands.
I've made my own wood stand out of birch branches at the cost of $10 for a pack of stainless steel wood screws. It's not perfect nor beautiful, but I've accumulated more ginormous branches that I'll be making a new play stand out of next summer. Here's a not-so-good picture of it:
Avery enjoys going to the bottom and chewing on the wood, which is perfectly safe:
I've also made my own orbitals with Super Cotton from a favourite online bird store of mine (less likely to come loose) and wooden embroidery hoops. The big hoop is in the background of the first photo:
And here's a different of the little one since Shiko's head was blocking it:
I think shortly I'll buy PVC joints and hot glue the rope into the joints to make them more secure and less likely to fall apart. I've also since changed from hanging the orbitals with rope to hanging them with big plastic play chains that Shiko genuinely enjoys playing with. They're big enough that they won't get their feet caught and they're nice and colourful to the birds too!
Oh wow. My poor bird is neglected apparently. Those are nice. Thanks for sharing thoughts. I found a used stand that fits in the house for around 100 and bought it. My macaw dug claws deep in my arm when I tried to put her on it. It is currently sitting against the cage with bookoohs of treats on it right now. So far, she stays on the other side of her cage mostly.
We have one for Tesla, sorry to say the only time he's on it is first thing in the morning. That's where I perch him for his morning poop then he's off to his pvc playstand.
I just got one for fidget and he loves it. He spends all of his time on it when I am home and hes not in his cage. It was a great purchase for him. So far, he hasnt gotten bored, but I keep it full of toys and change them out frequently.
I just got a metal king's cage play gym for my parrots. I got it for my multiple pionus, but it is large enough for a macaw. It has plenty of places you could put more branches for perching and toys, hanging and foot type. Just an alternate thought. The one Shine posted above is a great example though of how to load one up if you still want the Tree style.